Pianykh secures King of the Mountain title at Masters of the Mountains Round 5

Tooele, Utah Oleg Pianykh has not been beaten in the King of the Mountain class this season and round 5 of the championship was no exception. This last weekend Pianykh wrapped up the title on his Edge Power Sports sponsored Suzuki GSX-R1000 with on round to spare.

Despite four wins under his belt and being the short-odds favorite to take the title from #1 plate holder Jesse Sherstan, 2012 has not been easy for Pianykh a broken collarbone in June and a motor that expired in spectacular fashion at High Plains Raceway in July saw a summer seemingly dogged with ill-fortune. Optimism may have been further damped (in the Pianykh camp) after a high-speed spill during Saturday morning's practice session. A ruptured oil-line saw Pianykhs Suzuki sliding off the track on the very fast exit of Miller's Diablo triple-apex corner with a second rider going down in the melee. His oil-soaked machine was returned to the paddock and his pit crew worked throughout the remainder of the day and late into the evening readying the machine for Sunday's qualifying.

If the pre-race cloud of misfortune shadowed the Pianykh crew, then it rained hard on title-holder Jesse Sherstan. Miller Motorsports West track is fast and proved to be hard on machinery this weekend. Sherstan's GSX-R1000 motor expired in practice and, being a long way from his native Calgary, had only his Yamaha YZF-R6 to fall back on for the remainder of the weekend.

Pianykh brought his battle-scarred machine home to a landslide victory, securing a first place finish in the King of the Mountain race and a full 10 seconds ahead of Las Vegas native Jeff Stern. Despite a 400cc handicap Sherstan managed to bring home his machine to a credible third place finish, boasting a fastest lap of 1:32.

A reflective Pianykh said after the race: "It was an up and down weekend. I had an incident Saturday morning, and today [Sunday] won the race and title. I want to thank my sponsors; Edge Power Sports, Evolution Machine, Scott Larsen of Fastline Race Tire and Kory Cowan for helping me out this weekend."

The King of the Mountain 'U' class saw Canadian Scott Decker secure another victory on his EDR-prepared Suzuki GSX-R600. The 600cc class title is still up for grabs with fellow native Chad Swain and local rider Gerry Hicks still in contention. Previous rounds in this class have seen close battles between Swain and Decker.

Round five, however, proved to be difficult one for Swain: "The big race for me today was KoM U and we had issues with the set-up on the bike. The Pirelli tires went off after 6 laps, and the set up of the bike couldn't handle the bumps that the track has developed this year. I tried to chase down Decker and then realized I had to settle for fourth."

Gerry Hicks laid it all on the line for a second place podium finish. Hicks said after the race: "We had a guest appearance from Jesse Sherstan on his R-6 which made it really interesting."

Hicks rode a strong race and at mid-race distance made a bold move up the inside of Swain and Sherstan at Blackrock Hairpin and never looked back slotting his Honda Suzuki Salt Lake sponsored CBR600RR in second place and a podium finish.

With the season drawing to a close, titles were also secured in the supporting classes with David Purcell wrapping up the championship for Combined GTU class on his Yamaha YZF-R6 and Brian Childree winning Moto3 on his immaculately-prepared Moriwaki MD250.

Following the event Brad Moore (UtahSBA Vice President) contemplated the season: "It's been a great weekend and a great season for me. I've wrapped up the Twins GTU championship with support from Piper Down Pub, City Weekly and Moty Design."

The final round of UtahSBA Masters of the Mountains series shall be held at Miller Motorsports East track on October 6th and 7th.

The Masters of the Mountains is a motorcycle road racing series organized by the Utah Sport Bike Association, held at Miller Motorsports Park, and sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA). The UtahSBA is a member-based non-profit organization committed to furthering the sport of motorcycle road racing through racing, rider education and safety. For more information on schedule, rulebook, class sponsors, purses and contingency please visit www.utahsba.com/racing or link to the UtahSBA page on Facebook.